LESSER GOD | o, injured joiner

[CROSSFADE]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 60%; font-family: georgial; font-size: 11pt;"]When Corryn had first gone branching, he'd never accounted for the journey back up to the safety of his hollow. Flight feathers only just fledged in, the Barn Owl had intended to get more practice before trying genuine flight out of fear that he'd crash, but as it turned out gaining altitude was difficult. Trying to do such a thing had resulted in him losing the favour of the wind and tumbling down to the floor, where the predators roamed. Sheer desperation had given him the strength to fight against his lack of knowledge and find safety in a nearby tree, isolated from the others, but not without sacrifice. The sounds of furious barks were all that the young owl could hear. He found himself roosted where the forested mountains met the plains of sand, one leg lifted up above the safety of the branch out of pain. The vicious mutt circled the base of the tree, black and hollow eyes casting its glare directly up at Corryn. Foam frothed at its mouth, from excitement or disease the Tyto didn't wish to know, but its tail seemed to lash with excitement despite whatever ailed the beast.

Cory had to hope that it got bored and left him alone. His own eyes, though similar of colour, displayed absolutely no aggression in comparison to the lone hound - they were wide with a fear that could be felt even in his gizzard. He was safe for now on the leafless tree, but with his leg starting to swell up and the possibility that he might have to try and fly when he wasn't ready, it was hard to stay as cool and collected as he would've liked. Pale brown wings spread, perhaps in a way to make himself seem bigger when he was up a dozen or so feet in the air, his other foot's digits flexing and unflexing. Please just go away dog... there was nothing else that could be thought, with most of the avian's body paralyzed as he repeated that thought over and over. 

/ the angry doggo can be powerplayed c:
also rushed because i have pizza but i wanna post this quickly whoops

[SUZUME]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]Sparrow was no hero. He did what he did because he had no choice, because forfeiting his brother's life for a miserable freedom was not an option, and the only reason Sparrow remained in this "Sunhaven" was to await another order. He took lives because they said to, but beyond that, he enjoyed it, and he was far from his first flight in that regard. The canine did not keep track of his marks, nor those who weren't on the list that he killed as his own decision, and likewise, he did not number himself among those he knew who had honor; Sparrow had lost his, and with it, much of himself, all consumed in the fire that took his body. So no, he was not a savior, or even an avenging angel, and when his sword slashed first at the other dog's legs, it did so because Sparrow was bored. He barely spared a thought for the owl in the tree, glowing eyes on the canine as it whirled with a snarl, lunging sloppily.

Sparrow sidestepped the attack, and in the span of a heartbeat, slid his sword through a vulnerable throat. He commanded it free of the mutt's body, and it twirled away to lock into place at his back. After a moment of staring at the creature while it died, his head tilted, gaze on the owl. "Now you can take your time falling out of your tree, little bird," Sparrow remarked, accented voice muffled against the metal.

[align=right]INFORMATION

[GORDON CIPHER.]

The barking that echoed across Sunhaven's territory made Gordon stop in her tracks, her fur puffing out in alarm as she heard the noise. However, despite her growing fear at being spotted by such a vicious-sounded canine, Gordon was going to investigate, seeing as she was a semi-high position here. It was almost like she had to.

Luckily it seemed Sparrow arrived before her, although a gasp escaped her lips as she saw the guy outright murder the poor dog that was snapping up at something in a tree. The scent of blood wafted over her, causing her to gag a bit and she coughed, shaking her head as she tried to fight off the feeling of wanting to vomit. "Did-did you really have t-to do that?" She asked Sparrow, trying to avoid looking at the dead body as she looked at her... clanmate. The guy made her nervous - and although that wasn't new, the amount of fear he caused her to feel was. Gordon stayed a few paces behind Sparrow, her gaze slowly moving up towards where Corryn was. "Are-are you okay?" She called up to him, biting her lip at the sound of her own voice.

★ i am a lion born from things you cannot be ! ━

[CROSSFADE]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 60%; font-family: georgial; font-size: 11pt;"]So absorbed in frothed fangs, a snarl from the dog directed away from the aging wood was the thing that eventually caused Corryn to pay attention to his surroundings with several blinks. The Tyto angled his head, no longer blinded to the presence of the metallic canine, tucking his wings back where they belonged as the killing blow was made to the mixed breed. For a while he looked away when blood began to pool out of the gaping wound, not so much out of disgust for such a horrific scene but instead to look again for a safe place to glide to away from the one with the sword. Relief may have washed over the young creature for a bit, thinking that he had perhaps been liberated from the tree's shackles, but the Havener's words send a chill down his spine that the deceased canine could never stir within Cory. Still rather trapped, he whirled his neck around once more, slowly dipping his head towards Sparrow. Strange really, how the one named after a little bird technically rescued a little bird. A coincidence lost to Corryn out of a lack of knowledge about the stranger, the barn owl would say a brief "Thank you,", nervous chuckle escaping him with the remark.

They can smell fear, that was what he'd always heard about the furred ones, now that creatures with cognitive reasoning had began to approach, Corryn could only hope that he had the confidence within himself to not let that fact bother him. Talking to creatures like this was a new experience, so used to the company of his family, Cory never thought he'd have the chance to talk to grounded animals without being ghosted by very angry, very possessive parents. Though reaching an age where a lot of owls would leave and make homes of their own, the pale avian was admittedly a little too sheltered to worry much about that. The sound of someone exasperated at the slaying of the enemy caused him to snap out of his bewilderment, deciding to try his hardest to limit the blame on Sparrow's shoulders. "It's ok ma'am, it might've hurt one of you had something not been done about it,". It was unfortunate that it had to go like that, but sometimes death was inevitable. With how vile the beast had been acting towards Corryn itself, the barn owl at least couldn't find much to complain about. "You might've gotten its crazy genes,". Or rabies, as it was more commonly known as. Birds weren't effected too much by carriers, but it was a different kettle of fish for mammals.

"I'm fine though," he decided to change the subject before sparking a moral debate, giving a brief look down to his injury once more. "I caught my leg on something when trying to get away and it kinda hurts, I... I hate to ask but if I get down can I tend to it?". Corryn had no clue what he was doing medically, but he knew that a clan might not be keen to use precious supplies up on a stranger when winter was fast approaching. What he did know though was that he'd have his feathers plucked if he returned home, and wanting to avoid such a fate, figured it'd be better to ask these strangers for some assistance. It seemed that getting down without hurting himself further would be the hardest part though - landing on one leg was gonna suck.

[rhosmari]

MONROE

MALE — SUNHAVEN — SUNBEARER — HARD

Aggressive sounds of snarls and growls, scratching against tree bark that shattered at the pressure of claws had alerted the dawnguard and he tried his best to get to the scene in time but when he arrived it seemed that everything had been taken care of. Well, messily taken care of as there seemed to be a dead body upon the ground bleeding out against the bright green grass and the mutant's eyes seemed to widen, the pupils contracting. But the shark in him knew better. It knew when there was diseased blood in the area and he recoiled at the stench of it as he took a step back from the corpse. Eyes shifted away from the body to look at those already here. Sparrow and Gordon. Both of him he vaguely knew but there personalities stood out to him the most and so he could identify what had happened here. Seemed Sparrow had killed the individual on the ground to save a bird. Slowly his pearl colored gaze shifted up and he looked at the owl with intrigue in his gaze and he lightly flicked his tail in greeting. What had he said before? That it had crazy?

The idea along already spurred much to what he figured it might be and to have a diseased animal like that on their territory made him shiver. No one should eat it and it should be burned. "Sparrow and Gordon can ya burn the body? It has rabies and we don't want nothing tae try and eat it." Eradicate the virus at it's source so to speak though he knew that it could be found in the brain and saliva of creatures so he knew they had to demolish the body. Shifting his gaze back to the bird in question he looked over the male before giving a casual smile. "Come one down here, laddie. I'll look at ya for free and we can get ya patched up. What's ya name by the way? Mine's Monroe." His webbed paws pressed a bit more against the ground as his gills shifted a little bit against his neck, filtering when there was no need to. But habits died hard.

#psychosocial.

[SUZUME]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]The owl feared him- good. It was unlikely he'd come to any harm by Sparrow's sword, as he was completely uninterested in his life, but the cloying apprehension scent was satisfying. Sparrow preferred to be feared; it meant they were less likely to pry, liable to giving him a wide berth where he walked, and when they stared, disgust was not the primary expression: distress of what he could do was. It made him feel real, and while he preferred to remain in the shadows to avoid gazes altogether, if they looked upon him with fear, he was not just a revolting arrangement of mechanical parts. Except he couldn't quiet the turmoil, the shreds of his former self whispering about how he was no longer his father's son. He was no one's son. Sparrow was a mistake, who simultaneously hated and enjoyed what he shouldn't, like the obvious unease in the young owl even as he thanked him. If only he knew Sparrow didn't do it for him, and he could tell him, yet chose not to, saying nothing in response to his gratitude.

The stench became stronger when some other member of Sunhaven arrived, and Sparrow believed this was the one who ran from him when he arrived days ago. He hadn't seen her, but he had smelled her. Beneath the metal, what was left of his mouth drew into a sneer, pulling sharply at burned skin. "Didn't I?" The owl -amusingly- defended Sparrow's choice, and he wondered whether he truly believed what he said, or if it was driven out of obligation to Sparrow. Or, even better, maybe he didn't want to risk questioning the person with the sword. Wise, but he'd killed people for less.

There was no pride in that.

Ignoring those thoughts, his bleeding gaze shifted to the owl's leg, swollen from whatever he'd done to it. He clenched his jaw, metal shifting, stare briefly sliding over to Monroe, before leaving the feline dismissively, unresponsive to the command. Instead of dragging the body off with the nervous Gordon, Sparrow swiftly walked up the trunk of the tree, as though gravity was but a word, and sometimes it was, with the things this abomination of a body allowed him to do. He gave the owl a flat look. After a moment, he said, "If you can't fall properly, stand on the metal of my back." The offer was not spoken magnanimously, and his voice sharpened with warning when Sparrow added, "Touch the skin and you will burn with the mutt."

[align=right]INFORMATION

[CROSSFADE]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 60%; font-family: georgial; font-size: 11pt;"]Like one of the many dogs that appeared to inhabit this land, Corryn greeted the next stranger with a tilted head. Mutated, fish-like in appearance, yet baring a smile that was a rare spot of warmth in the crowd of the fearful and the fearmonger, he could look past the physical aspects of the strange creature to offer them the closest thing he could to a smile. So many questions entered his mind, beak slightly agape even when he felt a twinge of guilt for staring so much. Between he who wore metal and he who had gills, Gordon certainly seemed to be the most normal in this crowd and it left the bird of prey wondering what other strange specimens were around. Come on down... finally snapping his gaze away from the Havener himself, Corryn gave a nervous look towards the ground, unsure if the lump in his throat came from his nerves or the fur and bones of an old meal. "I... I don't think I'm ready," he admitted, picturing several more beasts running out of the wilderness with their foaming jaws snapping. Could Sparrow really fight all of them off? Even one with a weapon might struggle if they were outnumbered. You can do it, go on... it's just like branching.... he tried to reassure himself, but how was he supposed to get back his precious high ground if things went wrong?

Distracted momentarily at the chance to offer his name, Corryn would bow his head slightly. "I'm Corryn. It's good to meet you, Monroe,". He realised that he didn't know the other two's names at the moment, but the barn owl was sure that wouldn't matter soon. They'd give their own if they were decent creatures, he wouldn't pressure them into it when their presence had already done so much for him. If apprehension had come in the form of a brooding shikoku inu before, then imagine the shock and horror in the poor young one's expression when Sparrow quite literally walked up a tree. An animal normally known for its quietness, the sight of a predator climbing up the way that the Sunhavener did caused him to squawk in alarm, shuffling about clumsily on his chosen branch as if trying to get away from the other, only stopped by the threat of falling. Could all dogs do that? His stomach churned with the thought of what had happened if the dead mutt had been able to pull off such an enigmatic feat. A gaze that threatened to pop his ebony eyes out of their sockets briefly flashed towards those on the ground, as if silently asking if they knew that could happen, before forcing himself to hop closer to the other.

Even if words were spoken with an edge of coldness expected from someone who could end a life so easily, in a weird way, they were still appreciated. It was a kind gesture, Corryn couldn't look at it in any other way, seldom cynicism be damned so long as he was wise enough to heed the warning. Don't touch the skin? "Wouldn't dream of it," he reassured, though words were most likely just aimed at himself as a reminder. Giving a crouch, keeping his bad leg lame for the time being, the male would give a little wiggle of his tail feathers before jumping up, hoping to clamber onto the other's back following a frantic flap of recently fledged wings. Nothing was smooth about the gesture, a little curse may have even escaped him as he bumped his injured appendage against the hardened material he found himself on, but Corryn was at least careful not to graze up against any of the damaged skin marring the other's body. "Thanks again, I mean it,".

[GORDON CIPHER.]

Gordon frowned at Corryn's words as he defended Sparrow's choice, though she tried to keep her gaze from looking down at the dead mutt. That... doesn't excuse what he did, The Hearthkeeper thought to herself while biting her lip, not wanting to cause a ruckus. Then again, maybe the bird had a point; if the canine was feral and had rabies ('crazed genes', as Corryn put it) then it was best that it was killed. But it's still life, Maybe they could have caught it instead, or... or maybe chase it off.

Gordon shook her head, deciding it was best not to think about it. As Monroe spoke, the she-cat looked up at him, though when he suggested that she and Sparrow burn it, she let out a horrified gasp. "N-no! I-I'm-I can't do that." She responded rather quickly, blinking at the hybrid feline. Besides, Sparrow seemed perfectly capable and willing to do that on his own. Gordon would much rather stay away. "Um... are-are you going to stay, then?" Gordon asked Corryn now, her gaze flicking over to the bird as he hopped onto Sparrow's armor. I wouldn't trust him. She thought to herself. Sure, the guy warned Corryn what would happen if he touched his skin, but what if he moved suddenly under the bird on purpose, leaving him to be burn to a crisp?

Gordon closed her eyes, telling herself to stop those thoughts. She opened them slowly, trying to focus on just Corryn now. "I-I mean, this is Sunhaven. We-we're a group of merchants." She explained. "Y-you're welcome to stay, if-if you'd like. My-my name's Gordon Cipher."

★ i am a lion born from things you cannot be ! ━